BRUNTWOOD & GRAND UNION LAUNCH ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE INITIATIVE
Bruntwood, the leading property company, has entered a partnership with Birmingham based gallery and art studio complex Grand Union to help kick start and boost the careers of young and emerging artists within the region.
The new partnership will offer the opportunity for two artists to have a residency for 12 months, free of charge, in Bruntwood’s Cornwall Building, in a specially designed artists’ studio space in the Grade II listed building on Newhall Street.
As a result, Bruntwood and Grand Union launched an open call for artists interested in working in residence to apply for the scheme and are currently assessing applications received.
Beginning in January 2019, artists will receive mentoring from Grand Union’s curatorial team and be invited to take part in wider Grand Union social and studio events. The chosen artists will be expected to use the Cornwall Building as their main studio and during the course of their residency each will create one unique artwork to be showcased in one of Bruntwood’s Birmingham properties with Bruntwood meeting the costs of the commissions.
Bruntwood operate in Birmingham and across the North of England and earlier this year increased their presence in the city with the acquisition of Innovation Birmingham. The company has a long term commitment to creating thriving cities, and is a long standing supporter of arts and culture.
At the end of last year they chose Birmingham-based artist Joanne Masding, for her first permanent commission, to create work for the reception area of their redeveloped flagship Cornerblock building.
‘Flimsy Signals’
permanent installation created by Joanne Masding
Grand Union provides access to spaces to support artists in the city and the Cornwall Buildings residency and studio space initiative complements its existing provision of 12 artists’ studios, the Modern Clay ceramics facility, as well as their Birmingham City University graduate scheme.
As well as finding and nurturing talent and creating networking opportunities for artists at different stages of their career, the Bruntwood Grand Union partnership aims to increase artist collaborations and develop new sites of studio practice within the city centre and offer opportunities for knowledge sharing and cultural interactions between business and arts communities.
Additionally it will provide different facilities currently unavailable to artists in the city, encourage experimentation, innovation and cross-fertilisation of ideas and good practice outside of conventional studio spaces and help to improve graduate retention in the city.
Rob Valentine, director of Bruntwood in Birmingham at Bruntwood said: “We are very excited by this partnership because we believe it can make a real difference to new and emerging artists, not only to be able to create and display their work in the city centre, but also to take their careers to the next level. At Bruntwood we recognise that the arts and culture are key components to a city’s quality of life – they attract people to a city to live and to visit, help it to grow and let the world know what makes it tick.”
“Birmingham is one the UK’s most diverse and vibrant places and unsurprisingly it has a booming art and cultural scene. As Birmingham approaches an unprecedented surge in interest and investment it is vital that art and culture is further supported and for us that means supporting the growth and development of the city’s talent and giving it the opportunity to flourish, make an impact and inspire others.”
Grand Union’s Collaborative Programme Curator, Jo Capper, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Bruntwood on this exciting opportunity for two talented artists to create a piece of work for Bruntwood as well as other pieces for wider enjoyment. For us at Grand Union it widens the context in which art is created and enjoyed and we look forward to supporting the two chosen artists on their year long journey of development and experimentation as well as promoting their work through exhibitions, talks and events in the Grand Union gallery and in spaces across the city.”
